COMPANY INFORMATION

PROFILE

Staplethorne Ltd was formed in February 1996 by a team of highly experienced product development and marketing personnel. Its activities are split into three main functional areas:

product development and technical subcontracting & consultancy

manufacture

sales & marketing

and three market sectors:

non-contacting industrial measurement systems

medical diagnostic instrumentation

security devices

Product development work encompasses the development of both our own technologies into marketable products, and the development of external ideas into new products either through partnership agreements, or by acting as sub-contractors and consultants.

Manufacturing is largely via a network of specialist companies, with high-level assembly and tests being carried out in-house

Marketing activities incorporate the marketing and sales of products developed in-house, and of products secured through agency agreements. The product ranges currently marketed include:

Staplethorne has a portfolio of exciting technical development and marketing projects at various stages of maturity. Some are in-house and some are the result of partnerships. We are keen to establish further business partnerships with others who are able to offer funding and/or manufacturing and technical/market expertise and resources, or technology transfer of ideas or developed products. We are also happy to discuss strategic corporate alliances.

CORE PROJECT TEAM

Product R&D and Marketing Manager:Dr K M Barfoot CPhys MInstP. After graduating in physics from the University of Liverpool, Keith obtained an MSc in Radiation and Environmental Protection from the University of Surrey. He completed a collaborative Ph.D. in 1980, with the University of Surrey and the European Atomic Energy Authority (Euratom), in Belgium, on applications of nuclear and X-ray analytical instrumentation techniques. Keith has since successfully managed many complex, international and high budget (e.g.&pound4M) collaborative product development and marketing projects at: Queen's University (Canada), University of Surrey/BT, GEC Hirst Research Centre, K X Techology (as Technical and Marketing Manager), and now at Staplethorne Ltd. He is also Managing Director of Staplethorne.

Electronics Design Engineer:Dr M Cassen BEng (available via Imartec SARL). After completing a degree in electronics and computer engineering at the University of Bordeaux in 1994, Mathieu obtained a BEng degree at the University of Brighton. He then went on to do DPhil research at the University of Sussex on cardiac ambulatory mapping and worked in industry on capacitive sensor product design and manufacturing support. In 1997, Mathieu joined Staplethorne to be responsible for electronic product design, with particular emphasis on medical instrumentation. He then returned to France and later set up his own electronics design company, Imartec SARL near Bordeaux, which works closely with Staplethorne.

Research Scientist:Mrs A J Milton BSc AKC. After graduating from Kings College London in 1984, with a degree in Chemistry, Andrea joined the precious metals and biomedical company Johnson Matthey Plc. She spent the next eight years providing a range of analytical services to customers and in-house departments, including the JMTC Research Centre in Berkshire. Andrea has experience in AAS, ICPES, XRF, UV-Vis spectrophotometry and wet chemical analysis. After a short career break, she undertook two separate research projects for the Italian cable company Pirelli, at their Hampshire production facility. Andrea has now joined Staplethorne to add a chemist's expertise and resources to the already diverse and dynamic team. In particular, she brings her analytical logic and organizational skills to a range of technical research projects.

Product Manager and Marketing Consultant:Mr P J Hutcheson CEng MA MBA. Peter graduated from Cambridge University in 1981 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He then spent 2 years in industry with GKN before joining Anglo American Corporation's mining operations, working in production and project engineering. Over the next 9 years, Peter successfully managed a number of large production departments and complex production projects in the mining industry. Following completion of a full-time MBA in 1993 at Manchester Business School, Peter has worked as an independent consultant in technical product marketing and business management. He is responsible for the Xtra-Sense Display Alarm range of security products.

Finance Manager & Company Secretary:Mr G Sims ACA. Gerry is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years experience in industry, mainly with SMEs and technology companies, and he now has his own practice. He manages all financial aspects of Staplethorne business and is responsible for Staplethorne's project funding operations, commercial backers, inter-business deals etc and Intellectual Property matters. Gerry also focuses on commercial exploitation of the various projects.

Additional resources: Besides being in an active network of local high-tech companies, Staplethorne is also a member of the DTI SW SMART Award Winners Club, a member of the Institute of Physics Consultancy Group and SME Club, and Keith is an IOP Industrial Representative. We thus have access to a wide collection of expertise that we can bring to bear on behalf of clients.